Thanks to the collaboration of a witness to a conversation, the National Police managed to hunt down and capture a fugitive responsible for knocking down and killing a 17-year-old girl in Madrid, just before the suspect fled the country.

The incident occurred on Monday on the M-117 road in Madrid, when the girl was fatally knocked down at kilometre 3 of the road. The driver fled the scene.

Later that evening, a man, of Paraguayan origin, attended the police station in Pozuelo de Alarcón and explained to the officers the details of a conversation he had overheard between two men earlier that afternoon.

The witness to the conversation stated that he did not know the person allegedly responsible for the incident, but at around one o’clock on Monday afternoon he had encountered him whilst smoking a cigar in a doorway.

For about five minutes, the witness listened into the conversation where one of the men was explaining to the other how he had knocked somebody over in his car, and now plans to immediately leave the country.

The person receiving the information left shortly afterwards, whilst the suspect called another acquaintance and explained the situation again, saying, “I have run over someone and I think I have killed them”, asking for help to leave the country, “I have to leave Spain to a Latin American country”.

The witness to the conversation maintained his demeanour and continued to listen for more clues, before finishing his cigar, then returning to his home where he searched the internet for incidents which could have matched the details of what he had just heard.

Very quickly he came across news of the death of Alejandra, the 17-year-old girl which had taken place in Madrid on Monday at Fuente el Saz de Jarama on her way to school.

Unsure as to whether the information he had heard was true, and battling with his conscience, for several hours the man chose to remain silent, but then decided to go to the police station in Pozuelo de Alarcón around eight o’clock in the evening.

Once there, the Paraguayan explained to the officers what he had heard, with special emphasis on the fact that the subject planned to leave Spain that same day. At that time, the police did not have any more information other than that provided by the witness, who explained that he was a man of about 50 years of Paraguayan or Argentine origin, since the witness was able to distinguish the different nuances of Every Latin American speaker thanks to his origin.

The National Police launched an operation in which they called on the assistance of the Guardai Civil, who were in charge of the investigation into the fatal incident, confirming what they knew about the suspect and the victim.

Officers then visited the apartment block where conversations had taken place, knocking on every door in the block until one of the doors was opened by a Paraguayan girl. “Does a member of your family drive a green Mercedes?” asked the officers, to which the girl replied, “Yes, my uncle, but he just left with his bags in a hurry and I do not know why”.

The police then visited the suspect´s home, at around 10 o’clock at night, although he wasn´t there, and, remembering the threat to flee the country, set about searching flights leaving Madrid airport, and discovered a flight leaving at 23:55 to Buenos Aires.

Contacting the flight operator, the company confirmed the suspect had bought a ticket and was already on board the aircraft. Given the little time they had left, the police were forced to ask the plane’s Captain for assistance and permission to proceed with the arrest, which finally took place at 00:15 on board the plane.

According to sources, the suspect collapsed shortly after the arrest occurred and, although he did not confess the crime, he did tell them the exact place where the car with which he had run over the child was located, so is now accused of reckless homicide, omission of the duty of assistance and crimes against civil security.